Clay Twp.: Annexations by Genoa get trustees’ attention

News Editor
news@presspublications.com

Efforts by the Village of Genoa to annex properties in Clay Township along State Route 51 haven’t gone unnoticed by the township board of trustees.
According to the minutes of the Oct. 30 meeting of the township trustees, the village has been “aggressively trying to annex along State Route 51 and offering payments of 10K to annex into Genoa.”
Trustee Mitch Hoyles called the Ottawa County commissioners about the village’s annexation attempts and was awaiting a reply, the minutes say.
The trustees had been given a letter to a woman who owns a 39.6-acre parcel of land along State Route 51 in the township.
The letter, dated Oct. 25, is signed by Thomas Bergman, Genoa administrator, and states: “The village would like to offer you a cash incentive for annexation. We propose an incentive payment of $10,000. This would be paid immediately upon annexation. The village would also pay all costs associated with annexation, including surveying, petitioner’s fees, recording fees, etc. This would be done at no cost to you.
“Why does Genoa want to include your property in the village? As Genoa’s utility services extend for miles up State Route 51, it is in our interests to also have the village limits extend down the highway.”
The letter says recent annexations will bring the properties at 22300 Rt. 51, where Gordon Lumber, is located, and at 22592 Rt. 51, where the former Unicorn florist shop is located, into the village.
In addition, the village signed an agreement with another Rt. 51 property owner and is paying him $10,000 in exchange for annexation, the letter says.
The 39.6-acre parcel sits on the opposite side of Rt. 51 from Gordon Lumber and the former florist shop and is zoned for agricultural use.
The letter assures the woman that her property, if annexed, could remain as farmland.
In July, Genoa Village Council approved an ordinance requiring annexation agreements for properties contiguous to the village in Clay Township that are receiving utility services from the village.
The ordinance authorizes the village to terminate water, sewer, and electrical service if the contiguous property owners didn’t annex to the village.
The policy doesn’t apply to sanitary sewer customers in a service area established by a 2003 agreement between the village and Ottawa County.
Two businesses, Gordon Lumber and Henry W. Bergman, Inc., and six residences are impacted by the change in utility policy.

Annexation agreement
Clay Township and the village have a memorandum of understanding to share property tax revenues from parcels annexed to the village. Under the agreement, Genoa receives 55 percent and the township receives 45 percent.
The agreement was renewed in 2017 and is scheduled to expire in 2037.
Thomas Bergman, in an email response to The Press, said the annexation agreement recognizes that the village needs room to grow and expand the tax base while protecting the township’s revenues.
“I had a long conversation with a trustee within the last month and annexation was discussed. No opposition to annexation was expressed,” he said.
Bergman declined to comment on the other Rt. 51 property owner who accepted the $10,000 offer. But it is likely that property sits at 22428 Rt. 51, between the Gordon Lumber parcel and former florist shop parcel, where a truckstop had been in business.
Annexing the property in the middle would make that stretch along Rt. 51 contiguous to the village.
“Respectfully I cannot comment on particular economic development conversations with landowners,” Bergman said.
Don Douglas, an Ottawa County commissioner, confirmed he was contacted by Hoyles but said the commissioners have little say in annexations that are not contested.
“We really don’t have a decision to make with the memorandum agreement in place between the Village of Genoa and Clay Township and the property owner is a willing participant,” he said. “We’re more in an oversight position, making sure everything is being done according to the Ohio Revised Code.”